


honey sing it strong

by QueenWithABeeThrone



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Characters Writing Fanfiction, Friendship, Modern AU, Other, Pre-Relationship, Social Media, Urban Fantasy, but the fic as a whole is SFW, epistolary fic, kinda meta, not exactly a group chat fic, one fic summary has sex tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 20:47:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19092850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenWithABeeThrone/pseuds/QueenWithABeeThrone
Summary: purplepeacockheyyyyyI’m your artist for the VM Big Bang, hihope you don’t mind that I DMed you, your contact info mentioned you had a Discord and I wanted an easy way to talk to yousince I lost the password to my e-mail and all(working on finding it)and you don’t have a Twitteror: Molly and Caleb get assigned to each other for a challenge in their fandom,The Legend of Vox Machina. a friendship is born.





	honey sing it strong

**Author's Note:**

> title is from Hozier’s “To Noise Making (Sing)”.
> 
> fulfills the second prompt “modern AU”. wheezes.
> 
> thanks to the Widomauk server and the CritFic writers server for your help!

**@KatzenundBucher**

**purplepeacock**  
heyyyyy  
I’m your artist for the VM Big Bang, hi  
hope you don’t mind that I DMed you, your contact info mentioned you had a Discord and I wanted an easy way to talk to you  
since I lost the password to my e-mail and all  
(working on finding it)  
and you don’t have a Twitter

 **KatzenundBucher**  
Yes, it’s fine.  
You must be Molly. What pronouns do you go by? You hadn’t mentioned.

 **purplepeacock**  
I don’t go by any pronouns _specifically_ I’m fine with anything  
usually he/him is used but I answer to they/them and she/her and Your Flamboyant Eminence  
what about you??

 **KatzenundBucher**  
It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Flamboyant Eminence.  
Mine are he/him.  
Did you read the summary I had written out for the story you are to illustrate?

 **purplepeacock**  
y and it’s Wild  
I already love it  
I loved it from the second I read the words “superhero noir AU with Vex as a Jessica Jones-style investigator” I already have sketches  
if you want I can send them over right now

 **KatzenundBucher**  
Please do.

\--

 **Rating:** Mature  
**Archive Warning:** Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings  
**Category:** F/M  
**Fandoms:** The Legend of Vox Machina (TV)  
**Relationship:** Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III/Vex’ahlia Vessar, Tiberius Stormwind/Allura (Legend of Vox Machina)  
**Characters:** Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III, Vex’ahlia Vessar, Vax’ildan Vessar, Keyleth of the Ashari, Pike Trickfoot, Grog Strongjaw, Scanlan Shorthalt, Tiberius Stormwind, Kima (Legend of Vox Machina), Allura (Legend of Vox Machina), Cassandra Johanna von Humboldt Romanov de Rolo, Shaun Gilmore, Delilah Briarwood, Sylas Briarwood, Kaylie Shorthalt, Vecna (Legend of Vox Machina), Anna Ripley, Kynan Leore  
**Additional Tags:** Character Death, Canon Relationships, Slow Burn, Dead Dove Do Not Eat, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, More Hurt Than Comfort, Post-Apocalypse, Implied/Referenced Torture, Major Character Injury, Body Horror, Tiberius Stormwind Redemption, Tiberius deserved better, Whump, Percy (Legend of Vox Machina) Whump, Action, Drama, Fate & Destiny, Multiverse Travel, Psychological Torture, NPCs, Original Characters, Came Back Wrong, Plot Heavy, Warlock Deals, Demonic Deals, Alternate Universe - Tiberius Never Left, Dark!Percy, Dark!Vex, Dark!Vox Machina  
**Language:** English  
**Stats:**  
_Published:_ 2014-07-15 | _Updated:_ 2016-02-14 | _Words:_ 376248 | _Chapters:_ 49/50 | _Comments:_ 2587 | _Kudos:_ 10653 | _Bookmarks:_ 375 | _Hits:_ 845785

 **The Longest Night**  
_Xx_TheNonagon_xX_  
Summary:  
Vex dies. In desperation, unwilling to let her go, Percy makes a deal with a demon that brings her back to life, but deals come with a price and slowly but surely Percy is changed into something terrible.

Then, Vecna comes to collect on his deal, and everything _really_ goes to hell as a result.

The remnants of Vox Machina must now gather all their allies and their strength if they are to save Percy from the deepest, darkest depths of his soul. If there’s anything left of Percy to save.

\--

 **Rating:** Teen  
**Archive Warning:** No Archive Warnings Apply  
**Category:** F/M  
**Fandoms:** The Legend of Vox Machina (TV)  
**Relationship:** Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III/Vex’ahlia Vessar  
**Characters:** Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III, Vex’ahlia Vessar  
**Additional Tags:** Canon Compliant, Missing Scene, Past Canonical Character Death  
**Language:** English  
**Stats:**  
_Published:_ 2015-06-17 | _Words:_ 1586 | _Chapters:_ 1/1 | _Comments:_ 27 | _Kudos:_ 198 | _Bookmarks:_ 74 | _Hits:_ 1956

 **you bear the scars, you’ve done your time**  
_phoenixpercy_  
Summary:  
A coda for “SOS: Save Our Souls”: Percy and Vex have some early-morning coffee in the aftermath of Percy’s resurrection and Vex’s confession.

Notes:  
For tinydancers.

Title is from the Civil Wars’ “Dust to Dust”. Considering Percy’s recent resurrection, I thought it appropriate. Thank you to Nonagon for giving this fic a look, I know you can be busy with your own fic.

Happy birthday, Astrid.

\--

**@purplepeacock**

**KatzenundBucher**  
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwrrrrrrrrre  
Sorry, that was Frumpkin, he got at the computer while I was making tea. I don’t know how he keeps pressing the Enter button every time.

 **purplepeacock**  
awwww hi Frumpkin yes you are very wise  
is he your cat??

 **KatzenundBucher**  
Yes.  
Do you want to see him?

 **purplepeacock**  
:0 !!!!  
of course!

 **KatzenundBucher**  
[frumpkinpurring.wav]

 **purplepeacock**  
AWWWW  
god I came on to talk to you about something and I have been thoroughly distracted by your kitty awwww  
I completely forgot what it was  
hold on

 **KatzenundBucher**  
Okay.  
You have been typing for five minutes?

 **purplepeacock**  
you know the scene you sent me right? the one with Vex and Percy in her office where he asks for her help as Percy and not Gunslinger?  
so I took a look at David Mack’s comic covers for Alias and I suddenly realized I could do a cover like that and ta-daaaaaaa  
[vexandpercybigbang1.png]

 **KatzenundBucher**  
Oh.  
Molly, this sketch looks _incredible_.  
I could almost see this on the racks in my comic book store, it looks so good.

 **purplepeacock**  
you flatter me Katz you really do  
it’s not done yet but I wanted you to see it first

 **KatzenundBucher**  
I have seen it, and I think it looks amazing.  
The colors are so stark, the blue of Vex’s feather and Percy’s coat stand out so well in the blacks and whites, and they look so dynamic and expressive, I half-expected Vex’ahlia to wink at me.

 **purplepeacock**  
glad you liked it!  
there’s more on the way

\--

 **before you follow**  
(oh my god this is so cringey but considering just how many of you there are now who keep asking me shit I may as well)

hi I’m Mollymauk, but call me Molly. I’m a genderfluid bisexual tiefling (he/him but I don’t mind other pronouns) and had a TBI two years ago that wiped out pretty much all of my memory. so if you ask me about anything that happened more than two years ago, there’s a good chance I genuinely have no clue what you’re talking about.

sometimes I will talk about living with a TBI but lbr it’s just bitching, blacklist _#bullshit brain shit_ if you don’t want to see that on your dash!

if you’re here for art you’d be better off following peacock-draws, I upload all my art there, this is just my personal blog.

\--

purple-peacock  
this is a callout post for @monstahhhpike for this Cursed Screenshot  
[cursedscreen1.png]

[image description:  
A Discord screenshot, where Discord user **Heavy Metal Angel** has written, _I said it before I started watching this series and I’ll say it again, Scanlan Shorthalt is a brony._ ]

monstahhhpike  
just because you think it’s cursed doesn’t mean it’s not true, Molly.

purple-peacock  
GASP

\--

 **Rating:** Explicit  
**Archive Warning:** No Archive Warnings Apply  
**Category:** Multi  
**Fandoms:** The Legend of Vox Machina (TV)  
**Relationship:** Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III/Vex’ahlia Vessar, Keyleth of the Ashari/Vax’ildan Vessar/Shaun Gilmore, Kima/Allura (Legend of Vox Machina)  
**Characters:** Vox Machina, Shaun Gilmore, Cassandra Johanna von Humboldt Romanov de Rolo, Kynan Leore, Kaylie Shorthalt, Sylas Briarwood, Delilah Briarwood, Anna Ripley, Allura (Legend of Vox Machina), Kima (Legend of Vox Machina), Jarrett Howarth  
**Additional Tags:** Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Alternate Universe - Space, Found Family, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Past Brainwashing, Polyamorous Vax’ildan Vessar, Whump, Hard Science  
**Language:** English  
**Stats:**  
_Published:_ 2017-11-26 | _Updated:_ 2018-05-05 | _Words:_ 36285 | _Chapters:_ 5/5 | _Comments:_ 146 | _Kudos:_ 795 | _Bookmarks:_ 856 | _Hits:_ 2358

 **City of Refuge (Where Everyone is Made New)**  
_KatzenundBucher_  
Summary:  
Vox Machina’s story, if it took place in the stars.

Notes:  
Thank you to Beau lesbiankaylie for your help in beta-ing this fic and for talking me down from wild research sprees for throwaway lines. I am not sorry for the impromptu physics lessons you kept getting at 1 in the morning. Thank you as well to Jes leetleblooteef and Caddyshack trinket-and-vex for the anatomy lessons, it came in very handy.

I hope you like this very much, Nott.

\--

**@notthebrave**

**KatzenundBucher**  
[vexandpercybigbang1.png]  
I cannot believe I got so lucky.  
He is so good, Nott! He was able to make the scene look almost like something you would find in a professionally-made graphic novel. Look at the contrasts of the colors, the lighting, the expressions!

 **notthebrave**  
it looks gr8 caleb!!!  
i was a little worried when u said ud be returning 2 this fandom but ur making friends! thats so good!  
whos this guy again

 **KatzenundBucher**  
His name is Molly.  
We’ve been assigned together for the Vox Machina Big Bang.  
He’s such a good artist, he sent me preliminary sketches of Vex based off the tentative summary I wrote for this story and they looked far better than I could ever hope to describe.

 **notthebrave**  
ur a really good writer caleb if anything its a miracle _hes_ living up 2 your descriptions  
also is this purplepeacock molly

 **KatzenundBucher**  
Ja, he is.  
Why?

 **notthebrave**  
oh the crack ship guy  
im surprised hes doing something canon for once  
he has a really terrifying friend who im p sure is secretly a russian or xhorhasian spy or something  
like those spy accounts in 2016  
plus hes an eyesore to look at on twitter and thats saying something considering TWITTER

 **KatzenundBucher**  
I keep telling you to stay off Twitter, spatz.  
It’s not good for you.

 **notthebrave**  
im not touching tumblr with a 10ft pole  
want me 2 do a background check?

 **KatzenundBucher**  
I don’t think that will be necessary, Nott.  
What Molly and I have is something of a business agreement. Once we are done with our fic, we will part ways.

 **notthebrave**  
suuuuuuuure you will

\--

**@KatzenundBucher**

**CobaltFists**  
hey so

 **KatzenundBucher**  
Just because you are my beta reader does not mean I will be telling your English professor to give you special considerations.

 **CobaltFists**  
that was a JOKE  
no i was gonna ask  
you gonna be heading to zcc??

 **KatzenundBucher**  
Zadash Comic-Con is a month away and I have too many tests to grade for Professor Theylas.  
Ask me in a month, perhaps.  
But I have this funny feeling my answer will almost certainly be “no”.

 **CobaltFists**  
im going  
notts thinking about it  
jes and cap say theyre heading out there too probs  
caddyshacks bf lives there so of course hes already there half the time  
you sure?

 **KatzenundBucher**  
Ask me in a month.

 **CobaltFists**  
if you say yes in a month im just letting you know  
im booking one room right now and its got two queens and nott says she might consider it as long as she can find a babysitter  
so if youre coming along you better bring a sleeping bag bc sure as shit im not giving up prime real estate for your bony white ass

 **KatzenundBucher**  
I think I can survive sleeping on the floor.

\--

**@CaptainTusktooth**

**KatzenundBucher**  
Well, Cap?

 **CaptainTusktooth**  
how do the superpowers work?  
especially Vex?  
and why are she and Percy so angry at each other?

 **KatzenundBucher**  
I have already explained to you how the superpowers work, and the backstory between them.

 **CaptainTusktooth**  
yeah, over Discord, but a fic’s not Discord, Katz.  
I know Vex’s ability is unerring accuracy, and I know she’s got an extra here, and I know how she got it but your readers won’t. I know about the fallout of the Sunken Tomb and how you translated it here, but you gotta spell it out for the readers.  
if you’re planning to peel back the layers of backstory little by little, it helps to let people see the layer underneath, just a little bit, so when the layer covering it gets peeled away they already have something of an idea what it looks like.

 **KatzenundBucher**  
And the superpowers?

 **CaptainTusktooth**  
worldbuilding’s interesting but the superpowers and how one gets them are vague as hell. I know you want to be subtle, but there needs to be, I dunno.  
more of a moment when they use their powers?  
with Vex, you could say something like: her eyes narrow, and her vision focuses in like a laser on [some spot], fixing the trajectory and force of the blow in her mind. then she pulls her fist back and tosses the knife.  
get that?  
also I honestly still don’t completely understand how they got their superpowers. trauma? a gene bomb? radiation?  
also also: backstory? again, why are they mad at each other? it’s an interesting dynamic you got going here, how did they get there?

 **KatzenundBucher**  
It’s a combination of a near-death experience and stray magic, and in Vex’s case her resurrection from death added another one. It’s like cheating death and managing to steal a card from the deck and slip it up your sleeve.

 **CaptainTusktooth**  
so near-death experiences are a theme?

 **KatzenundBucher**  
Not yet, but now that you have mentioned it? Perhaps they will be.  
Also, have you seen the artist they assigned to me? His name is Molly and he is fantastic.

 **CaptainTusktooth**  
purplepeacock?  
yeah I know him! we’re mutuals on Tumblr.  
Jes loves him, they’ve got a chat going that goes about six months back.  
his art’s damn good, you got real lucky with him. I’d rec his fic too since they’re pretty good but uhhhh.

 **KatzenundBucher**  
If they are NSFW, just put the links here and I will open them when I am not at work.

\--

**@purplepeacock**

**KatzenundBucher**  
Do you know captaintusktooth on Tumblr?  
He said you were mutuals and he gave me a link to some of your fics.

 **purplepeacock**  
hold on a sec  
TBI means I’m shit at recognizing icons + URLs  
if he hasn’t changed icons or URLs in the last three months I might remember him? probably???  
wait yeah he’s here  
ooooh yeah we’re mutuals  
wait he sent you fic of mine?

 **KatzenundBucher**  
He did! It was interesting, I never would’ve thought of Pike and Cassandra together.  
Although the Jon Snow/Percy one did puzzle me somewhat.

 **purplepeacock**  
life is too short not to have cute broody dumbasses make out with each other  
anyway it makes more sense than Those Two Bloody Hacks and their bullshit  
also god my fic tho

 **KatzenundBucher**  
They’re very good!  
_Jon Snow kisses like he has something to prove, like the wolf inside him is barely being restrained, and Percy pushes away to snarl up at him, “What the fuck are you holding back for, then?”_ is a line I wish I had used now.

 **purplepeacock**  
flatterer  
I’ve read your fic and they’re fucking incredible too  
the most sci-fi I’ve ever watched is Star Wars but damn if your sci-fi AU wasn’t even better than that  
I now know way more physics than I’ve ever wanted to know thanks to reading it so

 **KatzenundBucher**  
So I have been told.  
Actually, since you’re here, I’m having something of a small problem with the big bang’s narrative right now.  
Do you mind if I ask you for help? I know you only signed up to make art, not be a sounding board.

 **purplepeacock**  
oh shoot  
here to please

 **KatzenundBucher**  
I’m a little stuck with how to write Grog. His voice keeps slipping and I am not satisfied with how I’ve been writing him so far.  
You have a good grasp on him in your fic, so I would like to know how you did it.

 **purplepeacock**  
you wouldn’t be the first person I know with that problem  
anyway  
so Grog yeah? he is in fact a big dumb goliath barbarian who likes killing things but that isn’t all he is now  
he’s been hanging around Pike for years remember so she’s rubbed off on him a little bit  
he cares about Vox Machina and will die for them, he doesn’t even mind dying in battle or out of battle, he wants to be able to set his terms of death  
he’s got a big heart and sometimes that leads him to do some questionable shit - the dragons attacking were enough to push him to almost make a deal with a demon in a skull a la Percy and the only thing that stopped him was Pike making a disappointed face at him  
also his relationship to Pike is super important she is his very best and very first friend and they can rein each other in but they also egg each other on  
also he’s not Smart smart but he’s good at tactics and on the fly and under pressure he can come up with some surprisingly good plans  
occasionally he even figures things out before everyone else does  
so he’s not Smart smart conventionally but remember he lived in a nomadic mountain tribe that killed things a lot he’s absorbed some knowledge from traveling and from also killing things  
don’t ask him to do complicated physics stuff but do ask him how to stab a thing real good and he’ll not only tell you he’ll demonstrate so you can stab it REAL good  
also he puts a lot of effort into like greetings and shit that’s how we get “bidet” bc he’s trying to be polite and not risk his friends’ lives in a place he recognizes seems like a viper’s nest

 **KatzenundBucher**  
So he can be more observant than the others?

 **purplepeacock**  
occasionally yeah  
like he’s dumb as a sack of bricks but somewhere in there’s a diamond and it’s got battle plans and How To Talk To People Good on it

 **KatzenundBucher**  
Has anyone told you that you can be insightful yourself?  
I think I know how to write him now.  
Danke schön, Molly.

 **purplepeacock**  
what’s that mean?

 **KatzenundBucher**  
It means “thank you”.

\--

 **Rating:** Explicit  
**Archive Warning:** No Archive Warnings Apply  
**Category:** M/M  
**Fandoms:** The Legend of Vox Machina (TV), A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)  
**Relationship:** Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III/Jon Snow  
**Characters:** Jon Snow, Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III  
**Additional Tags:** PWP/Porn Without Plot, Frottage, Coming In Pants, Multiple Orgasms, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Light Bondage, let the dumb cute assholes kiss, Crossover, Crossover Pairing, Diplomacy Happens At Night, Electricity Kink, Illustrations Included  
**Language:** English  
**Stats:**  
_Published:_ 2018-05-08 | _Words:_ 7442 | _Chapters:_ 1/1 | _Comments:_ 36 | _Kudos:_ 138 | _Bookmarks:_ 28 | _Hits:_ 1682

 **ice-kissed**  
_purplepeacock_  
Summary:  
Percy goes on a diplomatic mission to Winterfell, and takes a fancy to a certain white wolf. _Not_ the literal white wolf.

Notes:  
For AngelInIrons.

this is Yasha’s fault, she enabled me.

\--

 **vax is a dumb goth bird | yash** @pikethemonstah  
well I guess this means Pike’s going to Zadash in a few weeks.  
[tixtozcc.png]  
[pikebathselfie.png]  
_3:26 PM | 11 November 2019_

\--

 **WANNA SEE YOUR PEACOCK** @liketheseabird  
“you can’t cosplay Percy you’re a purple tiefling!”

have you considered: Fuck You I Play Who I Want And I’ll Take Him To ZCC  
[peacockpercyselfie.png]  
_1:19 PM | 12 November 2019_

\--

**best friend!**

**Me:**  
Yashaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa  
Yashaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

 **best friend!:**  
y Molly?

 **Me:**  
you know Katz??  
I got assigned to him for the VM Big Bang  
he just sent me the finished second draft of his fic and it’s so good

 **best friend!**  
y I know Katz  
I think?

 **Me:**  
you think????

 **best friend!:**  
he used to be part of this small group in the fandom that was very exclusive  
I was in another group  
we tended not to run into each other, neither group liked the other very much  
but I liked his work.  
it was all very imaginative.  
and then all that shit with Trent happened and Katz just dropped off.  
Im surprised he came back to fandom.

 **Me:**  
that’s the guy who harassed a bunch of people out of the fandom right?  
the one who used to complain about “forced diversity” and sued the cast one time bc they “stole his idea” with the vampires?

 **best friend!:**  
that one. y.  
Katz was the one who turned on him first, and then he dropped out of the fandom in the storm afterwards.  
he was going by Phoenix then.

 **Me:**  
huh  
had no idea he was in the fandom before, that’s something  
but he’s a really good writer tho  
and he has a cat!

 **best friend!:**  
really?

 **Me:**  
he sent me a video and everything  
cutest little bastard you ever saw  
this orange ball of fluff and stripes purring at the camera aww

 **best friend!:**  
please tell him to send some pictures to you so I can watch them too.

 **Me:**  
will doooooo  
also you’re going to ZCC?

 **best friend!:**  
y.

 **Me:**  
so am I!

 **best friend!:**  
do you need a hotel room?

 **Me:**  
pls

\--

**# zadash-logistics**

**grog no | bryce** _pinned a message to this channel. See all the pins._

 **grog no | bryce**  
Everyone please take a look at the pinned announcements.  
TL;DR: list of hotels in the area + con etiquette for con first-timers + layout of con + con schedule for all three days.

 **Winter Soldier Percy // Hawke**  
zcc vet here  
the evening nip is rumored to be a haven for criminal elements so deffo stay away from that one

 **Robbie**  
wait wait wait hold on a second is that  
is that David Tennant??

 **scanlan’s fursona ❌ grey**  
IT IS

 **Robbie**  
AAAAAAAAAAAA

 **Kiri**  
oh!!!  
Ducktales has a panel  
Is anyone else going to come see it?

 **Caddyshack**  
I think I might. It looks like a fun cartoon.

 **the Traveler wuz here 🌻 jes**  
me! you can come with us Kiri!

 **Nott the Brave (NO COMMA)**  
yeah u can come hang w/ us  
as long as ur parents dont mind

 **Kiri**  
awww thank you so much!

 **eldritch bleeeehst | cap**  
wow the Pillow Trove’s fillin up real fast, huh?

 **CobaltFists**  
too expensive anyway  
hear good things about the leaky tap tho

 **grog no | bryce**  
If you go to the Leaky Tap I think I can manage to get my friend Claudia to give you some pretty good rooms, although you’ll have to figure out how to get body paint off.  
She’s pet-friendly too, so you can bring your pets and ESAs in if you bring them with you.

 **Caddyshack**  
I’ll be at the con selling fandom teas by the way: table A16, beside Grey.  
Which reminds me, have you got a favorite tea, @scanlan’s fursona ❌ grey? I’ll see if I can’t brew you a free cup.

 **scanlan’s fursona ❌ grey**  
I don’t drink tea but robbie does  
And he likes earl grey god help him

 **Robbie**  
you just have no taste

 **Woven Stone/Janie**  
hey guys who wants to do a Vox Machina meet-up before the panel?  
my friend Verrin’s a photographer and I’ll be bringing her along with me

 **🌙 molly 🌙**  
I’m a photographer too  
if she doesn’t mind I can help her out  
hell I can even do individual and group shots

 **Woven Stone/Janie**  
Yay!!! I’ll let her know

 **KatzenundBucher**  
@🌙 molly 🌙 are you going?

 **🌙 molly 🌙**  
well  
yeah

 **KatzenundBucher**  
Then I suppose that means I will be going too.  
I would quite like to meet you, Molly.

 **🌙 molly 🌙**  
aww I’d love to meet you too Katz  
you bringing your kitty with you?

 **KatzenundBucher**  
Well, yes, of course.  
Actually, can I ask you something over DMs?

 **🌙 molly 🌙**  
sure

 **Nott the Brave (NO COMMA)**  
katz????  
molly????

 **the Traveler wuz here 🌻 jes**  
oooooooooooooh

\--

**@purplepeacock**

**KatzenundBucher**  
This is going to be a strange request, and I will understand if you turn it down immediately.  
But can you video-call me?  
I have a photographic memory, and I can remember details about how someone looks like. And I would like to be able to find you in the crowds at ZCC.  
I promise I will not do anything else with it besides that.

 **purplepeacock**  
you know how that sounds right?  
also I post selfies on Twitter all the time  
wait you don’t have one hm ok  
hold on I’ll send you a selfie  
http://twitter.com/liketheseabird/19476377778416  
Katz?  
you’ve been typing for like ten minutes now

 **KatzenundBucher**  
I know how that sounds.  
Your BYF states that you don’t have any memory from before two years ago, right?

 **purplepeacock**  
I should get that updated at some point but yeah that’s right  
it’s why I’ve basically missed out on most of the MCU  
why?

 **KatzenundBucher**  
What if I told you that I might have known you from before then?  
Or. Someone who looked like you, anyway.

 **purplepeacock**  
get on Skype

\--

The first time Molly sees Caleb Widogast’s face is on a computer screen, and it takes his breath away.

Katz is _handsome_ , there’s no arguing that. He’s a little skinnier than Molly expected, and he has very dark bags under his eyes, but those _eyes_ —they’re blue like sapphires and fresh water, like the sky on a clear and sunny day. His hair’s red and a little wavy, curling at the ends, and some of it is tied into a braid with little flowers woven into it. He smiles, a little, bashful and shy, as Molly fiddles with his settings.

“ _Hallo,_ ” says Katz. Even over Molly’s tinny laptop speakers, his accent still comes through clearly, and his voice shakes a little from disbelief.

Molly’s video window opens, and he plugs a hot pink earbud into his right ear. “Hi, Katz,” he says. “What—What are you talking about?”

“Did, ah, do you know anything about Trent? The one who used to go by Ikithon in the fandom?” Katz asks, and Molly can’t help a wince. “ _Ja,_ I suppose that is an answer. We, uh, he and I used to be—I’m not sure if _friends_ is the right word for it? I was new, and he took me under his wing. And it is not a part of my life I am very proud of, Molly, he poisoned much of my thoughts until I met Nott. She brought me out of that.”

Then he pauses, and huffs out a tired chuckle, twirling the cord of his headset around his finger. Just behind him, the same orange cat from the video jumps onto the bed, curls up on a pillow.

“Your cat’s on the bed,” says Molly.

Katz blinks, and says, “Oh. Give me a minute.” He snaps his fingers, and the cat vanishes from the pillow and reappears next to Katz’s face, licking over his cheek. “I know, I know,” he laughs, and then gently ducks out of view, presumably putting the cat away for now. “He’s a magic cat—technically he is a fey, but he quite likes being a cat, it’s his favorite form. Um, anyway.” He sighs.

“You were talking about Trent,” says Molly.

“I was,” says Katz, “and—well, at the height of his popularity, before everyone found out what sort of person he was, he made friends with a few other people who’d become just as famed in the fandom. One of them was Nonagon, and _he_ was charismatic, intelligent, and devoted to canon. He was writing this incredibly long fic that everyone in my circle was always waiting on an update for, and, do you know, one day he took notice of me. _Me._ ” His smile is a ghost, there one moment and gone the next, as he runs his hand through his hair. “We met at a con, we exchanged names, we became friends. He was notorious for being picky with his friends, so I thought myself so fortunate, to have become one of them.”

“What happened?” Molly asks, a weight sinking into the bottom of his stomach.

Katz chews on his bottom lip, then sighs. “I met Nott,” he says. “By chance, really. She’d made a collage for one of my stories, so I went to talk to her. We talked, and we just— _clicked_. I did not have to hide anything around her the way I did with Trent and Nonagon and everyone else, and little by little, she started to lift the clouds from my eyes. Just after I broke away from Trent, just after he left fandom for a publishing deal, Nonagon just—posted a cryptic message on his Tumblr, about a meeting he and his true friends were going to have in LA. He named them all, and I wasn’t among them. He _did_ name me as a false friend, though.” There’s a hollow laugh now, and it makes Molly’s gut churn. “You would not believe the threats I got, the insults, the accusations—I took that as a signal to walk away, for a while.”

“And Nonagon, real name Lucien, came here to LA,” says Molly, slowly, piecing together the clues, “but something happened, and he died. And I came back instead.” He sucks his lower lip in between his teeth, worries at it with a fang before letting go. “Did you know?” he asks.

Katz shakes his head, and says, “If I knew, I would’ve told you earlier than this.” He looks down, fiddling with his sleeves, and says, “If you—Do you want to know more?”

“No,” says Molly, almost immediately. “I’ve gone two years without knowing anything about him, I can happily go twenty more without learning more. What you gave me is enough for me to know I don’t want to know anything more.” He huffs out a breath, brushes some hair back behind his ears, and almost tugs his own earbud out of his ear. “He sounds like a grade-A arsehole, and I want nothing to do with that.”

Katz lets out a breath, then nods, slowly. “ _Ja,_ ” he says, sounding strangely heartbroken, “okay. I can respect that. You can—You don’t have to keep making art for me, then.”

“What?”

“You don’t want anything to do with Nonagon,” says Katz, his voice picking up speed, his face turning resolute, like he’s determined to weather his storm no matter what. “I can—I can withdraw from the challenge, that is fine, they can find you another writer, a better one, someone who wasn’t so involved with—”

“Katz,” Molly interrupts, “Katz, hey, hey, slow _down_. What made you think I didn’t want anything to do with you?”

“You just said you wanted nothing to do with Nonagon, or Lucien,” says Katz, “I have just told you we were _friends_ —”

“Would you be friends with him now?”

Katz shakes his head, immediately. “I’ve learned better since then,” he says. Then he pauses, and says, “But you—you are _good_ , Molly. Not just skilled with a pencil. You write and you draw with a passion that I—I almost _envy_ , you have so much _life_ and it bleeds into every line and every word. And you are not ashamed to be yourself, fully and completely. I—I would. Ah.”

“Go on,” says Molly, propping his chin up on the heel of his palm.

“I think,” says Katz, after a moment, “I would like to get to know you better.” Then he pauses, and hurriedly adds, “But that is up to _you_. If you do not want me to, you need only to say the word.”

“What if I want you to?” Molly asks. “What if I want to be friends with you? Better friends than that ass ever was to you, anyway, I promise I’m not gonna sic a bunch of rabid fans on you just for standing up for yourself.” He pushes himself up, looks the camera dead in the eye, and says, “I want to keep going with the fic. It’s really, really good, right now, what we’ve got. We’re a really good team, and I—I want to keep going with that. Even after the challenge ends, because I can’t get enough of your words, Katz, and if you left now I’d be very displeased.” He pauses, sucks in a breath to steel himself, then adds, “And it’s Mollymauk Tealeaf. Molly to my friends, and we’re friends now, aren’t we?” _Aren’t we?_

Katz is quiet for a moment, but his eyes are wide and a little watery. He sniffs, wiping at his nose and his eyes, and finally, truly smiles—a small, shy thing, certainly, but real all the same. “I’m Caleb Widogast,” he says. “I am a TA in Rexxentrum. My friends in real life call me Caleb.”

“Well, Mr. Caleb,” says Molly, with a grin, feeling a weight he hadn’t realized was there lift off his shoulders, “will I be seeing you at the convention? I’ve printed some art I think you might love.”

“Of course, Mr. Mollymauk,” says Caleb, smiling, and something warm blooms in the middle of Molly’s chest. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

\--

 **Rating:** Explicit  
**Archive Warning:** Graphic Depictions of Violence  
**Category:** Multi  
**Fandoms:** The Legend of Vox Machina (TV)  
**Relationship:** Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III/Vex’ahlia Vessar, Keyleth of the Ashari/Vax’ildan Vessar/Shaun Gilmore, Kima/Allura (Legend of Vox Machina), Cassandra Johanna von Humboldt Romanov de Rolo/Pike Trickfoot  
**Characters:** Vox Machina, Shaun Gilmore, Cassandra Johanna von Humboldt Romanov de Rolo, Kynan Leore, Anna Ripley, Allura (Legend of Vox Machina), Kima (Legend of Vox Machina)  
**Additional Tags:** Alternate Universe - Superheroes, Alternate Universe - Modern, Detective Noir, Slow Burn, Breaking Up & Making Up, Murder Mystery, some sex scenes  
**Language:** English  
**Stats:**  
_Published:_ 2019-03-30 | _Updated:_ 2019-03-30 | _Words:_ 24771| _Chapters:_ 3/3 | _Comments:_ 275 | _Kudos:_ 954 | _Bookmarks:_ 876 | _Hits:_ 5542

 **It’s A Hungry World Out There**  
_KatzenundBucher, purplepeacock_  
Summary:  
Vex’ahlia Vessar, retired superhero, works as a private eye in New York City, home of the superheroes. Most of her jobs involve tracking people down and serving them a subpoena, tracking down cheating spouses and taking pictures of them with their pants down, and tracking down potential scandals and taking more pictures. She’s starting to think she has her routine down pat.

Then Percy de Rolo, known as Gunslinger, shows up on her doorstep and asks for her help in finding the woman who helped murder his family. Anna Ripley has struck again, and this time she’s killed the retired heroine known as Cabal’s Ruin and stolen her magical cloak. Vex is the best tracker in the city, ergo, Vex is the best choice for tracking a murderer.

But Ripley knows they’re coming for her, and Vex will have to keep all her wits about her if she means to survive the trap Ripley’s laid for her and Percy. And that’s without the twisted tangle of history between her and the gunslinger coming into play...

Notes:  
Thank you to Bryce for the opportunity. If you had never run the VM Big Bang, this story would not exist.

Thank you to Cap for your beta job, and to Beau for putting up with me when I DMed her panicking about the combat scenes. Thank you to Jes for looking over the sex scenes and giving tips on how to make them sexier. Thank you to Caddyshack for the medical advice. Thank you to Nott for the cheerleading, and for the encouragement when I was feeling low.

And thank you to Molly, not only for the art, not only for the insights, not only for the late-night chats and the shameless adoration of my cat, but for taking a chance on me. You’ve become one of my closest friends. I hope you enjoy this with the same wonder and excitement as you did the first time you read it. - Caleb

this one’s for Yasha: you stayed up with me while I bitched about Photoshop and broken tablets. you’re the best friend I could ever ask for.

this one’s for Caddyshack: your tea got me through some rough spots in the art.

this one’s for Jes: we had a devil of a time chatting about which bit goes where and all the bad fanfic we’ve ever read. you owe me a Toblerone bar, you promised.

this one’s for Beau: you’re unpleasant as fuck. I’m so glad we met at that con.

this one’s for Cap: you are a fantastic beta, and a great model. I’m not sorry about bringing someone up to our room during the con, btw, and hey, at least you got a steak out of it.

this one’s for Nott: there’s an Easter egg in one of these drawings just for you. if anyone can find it, I know you would.

and finally, for Caleb: getting paired up with you was the best thing that ever happened to me. thank you so much, and you’re welcome for the art. you’re better than you think you are.

for you, dear reader: enjoy. we cried a lot over this, sometimes even late at night. we hope you enjoy it. I know I always will. - Molly

title is from Josh Ritter’s Lantern.


End file.
